


mostly, i want to be kind

by lazyfish



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (in the loosest sense of the word), F/M, Post-Canon, spec fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25115311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: The war is over, and Daisy needs to find a way forward.
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 33
Kudos: 167





	mostly, i want to be kind

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was heavily inspired by a Mary Oliver poem, which I've included below:
> 
> _You don’t want to hear the story  
>  of my life, and anyway  
> I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen_
> 
> _to the enormous waterfalls of the sun._
> 
> _And anyway it’s the same old story -  
>  a few people just trying,  
> one way or another,  
> to survive._
> 
> _Mostly, I want to be kind._

The war is over.

It’s strange, because she’s never really felt like something was _over_ before. Even in between missions and threats to humanity’s very existence, there’s been something carrying her through, pushing her along to the next villain, the next fight, the next heartbreak. Now she feels like a puppet with its strings cut.

The war is over, but they were not all spared.

She’s said goodbye to her father for the last time. She’s accepted there are some parts of her that will never be the same again, some people she will never be able to love like she did before. She has walked through hell and now she’s on the other side and -

The war is over.

Daniel sits beside her. She wonders if he realizes the war is over, too, or if he’s being pulled forward by some unseen hand. Someone always has to be, she thinks - if everyone’s war is over at the same time, then no one’s is, really.

“What comes next?” There’s no pressure in his voice; he’s not asking her to make a decision, only inquiring about what she’s already planned.

Daisy has no plans.

“I don’t know.” She leans against his shoulder, tries not to wince at the way her bones shift under her skin. “What about you?”

Daniel sighs. “I guess I should stay.”

Mack doesn’t want to stay, and Daisy can’t blame him. Elena will leave with him, and Fitz and Simmons are already packing. They can all walk away from S.H.I.E.L.D. - they all have another place in the world. Daisy doesn’t have much of anything. Neither does Daniel; his place in the world is sixty-five years ago, and he hasn’t had much time to carve out a new one.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” It’s what Daisy would want someone to say to her, if she was in the same position.

“I know I don’t have to.” He wraps his arm around her shoulders, lets her lean further into him. “But I don’t know what else to do.”

She understands. If she had other plans she’d ask him to come with her. He understands what it’s like to live through a war, what it’s like to have to pick up the pieces after - and Daisy thinks she’s going to need some help with that. But everyone else is leaving, and she doesn’t think she factored into any of their decisions. May’s, maybe, but May deserves to retire and go somewhere sunny and stay there. Everyone else, it seems, forgot that Daisy has no one and nowhere to go to.

Well, almost no one.

“I can make you a new identity,” she offers. She can at least make it easier for him to live in the present. She can give him a passport, a birth certificate, a Social Security number - she can give him a good life. He deserves that.

“I don’t mind being Daniel,” he replies. “Not sure how many people know Daniel Sousa anymore, but it might be good to change the last name, just in case.”

“How about Johnson?”

Daniel stiffens.

“I can’t imagine my life without you in it anymore,” Daisy admits quietly. Daniel doesn’t relax. “I don’t mean we have to get married, or even… what do you old people say? ‘Go steady’?”

He chuckles, but doesn’t answer. “I just know I want you around,” Daisy finishes. “In whatever way you want to be here.” That’s enough to make him slump just slightly, his tension gone.

“Daniel Johnson doesn’t sound so bad.” He brushes a kiss across her temple, and goosebumps erupt across Daisy’s arms. “And I wouldn’t mind figuring out where we go together.”

“Even if it’s not S.H.I.E.L.D.?” she asks quietly.

“Even if.” Daniel squeezes her tighter against his side. “We can talk about it later. And the other thing, too.”

Right now, though, they can sit in silence, and appreciate that the war is over -

Finally.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! As ever I'm accepting prompts on my [Tumblr](https://bobbimorseisbisexual.tumblr.com/)! I have quite a few waiting for me so if you're worried I haven't seen yours, I most definitely have - just have a lot to get through. :)


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